What do you get when you mix kids with ranching and Bible study? The answer: The Canadian Cowboy Church Bible Ranch Rodeo Camp.
It is quite possible that the camp, now in its fifth year, is the only one of its kind.
But first one needs to understand the difference between Bible ranch rodeo camp and Bible rodeo camp.
Shannon Vinson, an adult volunteer who has been involved with the camp from “Day One,” said that rodeo camp includes actual rodeo events — bull riding, barrel racing, etc., — whereas ranch camp is closer to the day-to-day work on an actual ranch.
The Canadian Cowboy Church, located on Highway 152, between Borger and Skellytown, is a bit like a small ranch itself, with corrals for horses and livestock. You have to watch where you step as you walk through the parking lot.
Outdoor activities for the ranch camp include roping, cattle handling, branding, sorting, mugging (treating cattle) and tying.
“This is stuff you do everyday on a ranch,” he said. “I’ve taught tons of rodeo Bible camps across the country and this is the only ranch camp I know of.”
Vinson’s father, Billy Paul, is the pastor, and his mother, Tavia, is also a volunteer.
Tavia Vinson said there are 81 kids attending this year, which is the highest number they’ve ever had.
Out of that number, only about 12 are members of the cowboy church , Vinson said.
“They come from everywhere,” she said. “Stinnett, Amarillo. In the past years some have come from as far away as Colorado.”
In the real estate business, they say location is everything.
And for the annual ranch camp, the church’s location, a stone’s throw from Graced Land East, turned out to be a big plus.
The church uses Graced Land’s activity center, where the children are fed all of their meals and sleep in the dorms.
The camp began on Wednesday and will end Saturday.
The cost is $100 per child “which includes everything,” Tavia Vinson said.
Along with all the daily ranching activities, there are praise and worship services and devotionals every night, Tavia Vinson said.
She said kids are divided uwp into teams with names like King Ranch, the Matadors and the Pitchforks.
Asked what he likes about teaching the camp, Shannon Vinson said, “I like to see the kids succeed in the events and be successful with their walk with the Lord.”